Is Winning boxing gear worth the price?
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I wish I could say more about this company’s history but I know nothing of it. What I can share however is my personal feeling of the brand, the way it was communicated to me and the way that the boxing community views them.
Look at most of today’s brands and what do you see? Annoying advertisements everywhere, email spam, internet ads, affiliate marketing, even home mailers. They’re everywhere. And they’re always on sale! (How is that a “sale” when you’re always on sale?)
Most boxing gloves out there insult our intelligence. They assume you don’t know the difference between a quality glove and a shit glove. They assume you’re naive enough to fall for fancy graphics over substance.
And they’re right! *shaking my head*
For every 1 pair of Winning gloves that are sold, there are probably 20 Title gloves, 10 Ringside, 10 Hayabusa, 5 Reyes, and 5 Venum gloves being put on fighters. Worst of all, many of those other brands all claim to be “THE BEST GLOVES EVER MADE!”
How freaken silly! It annoys me to no end. Can you imagine if every fighter went around claiming themselves as “THE BEST CHAMPION EVER”? That’s how most glove brands occur to me.
But then when you look ONLY at the pros and what do you see? Many of them, and in even some gyms almost all of them wear Winning. Heck even many of the serious amateurs wear Winning as well. The question is…how is it that they got to be that way?
Winning evokes the nostalgia of a time when PRIDE exceeded EGO…gloves of Japanese pride!
For those not aware of the difference:
- PPRIDE – is the feeling of accomplishment.
- EGO – is a sense of self-esteem or self-importance.
Whoever runs that brand does in the most respectful way possible. I LOVE THEIR BRAND for their no-nonsense way of marketing it. No spam, no begging, no promising, no gimmicks. For the longest time ever, they didn’t even have a website. It was a photograph of a printed Japanese ad with English over it (lol, like a dubbed-over poster) and posted online. That was it. There was some mail-order information and the whole thing looked like a scam ad for an overseas toy company.
Their marketing was so laughably bad and yet charming at the same time. They were the epitome of old school marketing. Not a single representative from their company could be found in promotional videos hyping up their product. They never sponsored or endorsed any fighters. Their company banners weren’t obnoxiously plastered all over fighting events.
It’s as if all their company ever cared about was about making quality gloves AND NOTHING ELSE! They didn’t care about marketing. They didn’t care about distribution, promotion, nothing. If they ran out of stock, too damn bad, you just gotta wait.
And if you’ve ever been to Japan (which I have), you’ll understand right away why they make the best gloves. The most high-tech, intelligent, humble, and hardworking people you’ve ever met. That whole country is PERFECT at everything they do. It’s in their culture.
So it’s no surprise to me at all that you never ever hear of BS problems with Winning. No torn threads or torn leather, none of that crap you get with other brands. This company makes gloves as if you were going to fight a 100-year war in outer space.
Oh and they make assumptions about you, too:
- They ASSUME you’re a serious fighter.
- They ASSUME you need the best glove possible.
- They ASSUME that you will train for a long time.
I can’t say enough. I love a company that respects its customers. Winning doesn’t make gloves for fighters. They make gloves for champions.
Winning was the pros & rich kid’s brand
There was no reason at all for a regular kid like me to have it. Sure, I was hardcore but not like going to tournaments every weekend. You could say I was a typical club fighter. Good enough to go rounds with everyone, skilled and durable, but not a career fighter.
And it wasn’t only the gloves that you had to get. Many fighters will get Winning’s legendary headgear as well. Super light and yet so damn protective. Some fighters will even get the headgear first. (Your brain is more important than your hands!) Anyway, it’s all on you and what you can afford.
I don’t get people saying they can’t afford $400 headgear or $400 gloves when I see them walking around in $300 Air Jordans and with a $600 iPhone in their hand.
Reasons why some pros don’t use Winning:
- high cost
- don’t need (or don’t like) their pillowy cushioning, and/or prefer other brands
- sponsored to use other brands
- prefer flashier or custom glove designs (although Winning does do custom gloves designs as well)
- not easily accessible (in their country or region)